Tuesday, 10/07/2018 16:29 (GMT+7)
At least 100 people have been killed and two million forced to flee their homes after record rains pounded southwest Japan.
(Photo: Kyodo/vov.vn)
The heavy rains triggered widespread flooding and deadly landslides. Dozens are still missing after the rescue of more than 2,000 stranded in the city of Kurashiki.
Millions of people across several prefectures have been ordered to evacuate from their homes after Japan's Meteorological Agency issued weather warnings across the country.
"The record rainfalls in various parts of the country have caused rivers to burst their banks, and triggered large scale floods and landslides in several areas," Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on July 8th.
More than 50,000 members of the self - defence force, police officers, fire-fighters and coast guard personnel, aided by helicopters and paddle boats, were trying to rescue people from buildings, some of them stranded on roof-tops just metres above the water-line.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to cancel an overseas trip, a ruling party source said. The planned trip would have taken him to Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt from July 11th./.
Compiled by BTA